first garden, help!

[Maryann]

wilt on the tops of only some of the tomato plants.
under water
over water
the plain old heat factor (how much sun can they have before I tent them?)

[Karen]

Is the plant truly wilting or are just the edges of leaves curling? I have some Big Mama roma tomatoes whose leaves all curled but the plants themselves are doing fine. Several friends and I did a seed co-op and all of their Big Mamas are doing it too.

If the plant is truly wilting, it needs more water. With wilting, even the upper stems will be soft and droopy, not just the leaf tips. It happens more on the top b/c it's further from the roots. How deep is your soil and how crowded are your plants? Tomatoes in the ground can usually get by with an inch of rain per week, esp if mulched well, but grown in containers, including raised beds, with much more porous soil, that usually isn't enough, esp if you've crowded a lot into one box. I have 4x4 beds, 6 inches deep and have 4 tomatoes plus many other smaller plants in each. I can get by with watering once a week if it has also rained; if not, I usually have to water 2-3 times.

A deep, slow watering less frequently is better than a tiny bit each day. shallow watering encourages shallow roots, which dry out quicker.

[gardengirl72]

Post a pic if you can. I sounds like it could just be a droopy heirloom tomato. Some varieties just look like that.

[Cynthia]

also is the wilt there first thing in the morning or only once the day gets hot. My plants are perky in the morning but the afternoon sun makes them look a little sad (our 33 days of 100 degree heat make me more than a little sad - but that's another issue altogether)